1958 MGA Coupe

[bobs77vet]

house quieted down early tonight....so that means when the Boss goes to sleep its play time...about 1.5 hrs

the fender still needs some more love



just make up a new piece to slip into place





of course I had two holes top side, so I made the repair piece to cover this area also



of course theres always one more rusty spot



too late to do any grinding

 

[bobs77vet]

lets wrap this fender up for the first stage


grind everything down look for additional pin holes and weld them up.....every thing gets wiped down with wax and grease remover before any thing get primed

 

[bobs77vet]

time to keep on pushing.

I am formulating my painting plan as I go through the process, looks like it will be to take every part to the " black paint phase" basically that means all the welding and grinding is done and the first coat of body filler is done. and the part is trial fitted with all sub components and all the nuts and bolts. in place once that is done then I will move to the next level of body finish. I have figured out how I am going to build a spray booth in the garage so I will not be dependent on out side weather

 

[bobs77vet]

heres whats left to massage back to life






I normally don't use paint stripper on steel parts but the shut face panels are kind of small with lots of curves for a sander

 

[bobs77vet]

heres todays effort



ALWAYS WEAR A FULL FACE SHIELD when using a cupped wire brush, this flew apart at several thousand RPM and scared the bejsus out of me





and this was a good one





the part has lots of curves in it


this is a treatment after the sanding and wire brushing I will sand this off before it gets primed

 

[JPhil]

Your posts & pictures remind me of the big sign in front of General Air & Gas Welding & Tool Supply last week which said, "Your wife called and said you need more tools." :lol:

 

[bobs77vet]

Your posts & pictures remind me of the big sign in front of General Air & Gas Welding & Tool Supply last week which said, "Your wife called and said you need more tools." :lol:

the sign was correct!!!!!!!!!! and the timing is funny, when I was 16 some 41yrs ago I started cutting out tools I wanted from the craftsman tool catalog and taping them to index cards so when some asked what I wanted for a gift I could give them a range of gifts in differing dollar amts. its how I started to build my tool collection.

it was somebody's birthday and he got just what he wanted from the family I don't need ties, shirts, belts, socks etc, etc etc


A Product review....portable work stands from Harbor Freight on sale $16 each not on sale but 20% off $20, regular 30

stows pretty thin

product material says 200# that may be a little optimistic but I am impressed with these, you definitely need to spray wd40 into the rubber tubing to slip it over the metal tubing frames. I am keeping these boxes so I can pack these back up when I am done

 

[bobs77vet]

this was just dirty work but other then the instrument gauge panel this is the last of touching parts for the first time.









use a gasket scaper on the undercoating

 

[Sam Cogley]

I think you need a sandblast cabinet.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

and certainly another side grinder

I have a stand like those... I use it, but just not that often because - as you pointed out - it's not terribly stout.

 

[bobs77vet]

I think you need a sandblast cabinet.

only a really nice one that is big with a vaccum will do, I had a smaller one and I gave it away becasuse it just put off way too much fine particulate into the air. they also take up space so until if get a really nice size shop it will just be on the "wish list"

 

[bobs77vet]

lets tackle the worst splash guards first



make a pattern and trim



on 18 ga


I suspect tool benches are like pretty girls and money, the more the better




lets try a tipping die on a flat bottom die and you pick up on the out side edge as you work it through the machine....4 times each panel










trim to fit


weld up and repeat



last thing to do is to dimple the metal so we don't lose the hole marks

 

[Sam Cogley]

My cabinet lives in my dad's garage, though I'm going to bring the small one down here when I get my garage better organized. I've found that a standard shop-vac, large size, works fine for dust collection.

 

[bobs77vet]

i have seen some really nice commercial units that make no dust.

open up the caged nut to replace the frozen nuts on both sides and chase all the caged nuts


tap a new square nut to the UNF (luckily I have good old American stock on these and they are nice and tight even when retreaded)



new install


this will get welded back on the fender



cut and fabricate

 

[bobs77vet]

lets wrap these puppies up!!!



plug welded the little rust holes





do a little magic on the other side also



yikes this looks like work





its hard to see the plug welds

 

[bobs77vet]

cant get dirty today so it was a cleanup day and picked some really low hanging fruit,

 

[bobs77vet]

big week my second granddaughter came to us



and I decided I hadn't run the car in a while so time to take it out and drive it up and down the block, I should probably send the distributor out to be rebuilt since the vacuum canister is toast



see the tire tracks up the side of the house

 

[bobs77vet]

no more welding necessary on the inner fenders!!!!









and for some reason I noticed the inside of the bomber seat was rusting, only the inside not the outside, so I painted both sides quickly with some gloss grey



went back out tonight and bent the rear forward inner splash guards and gave them a slight radius on the bottome and gave them a trial fit, more to do tomorrow in fitting them and then some body filler and primer

 

[bobs77vet]

well the right rear forward most inner panel is fitted, I had to reform the top a little because of the body rust repairs and the welds, no big deal about 40 mins worth of work. this is now ready for some light body filler over the weld seams and some primer

 

[bobs77vet]

nibbling on this elephant hard and fast......

finished fitting rear fender and grinding down welds that were visible or in the way of the fitment.



everything shiny gets the green self etching primer first and then the top coat of black primer (so i dont forget where i am in the process i am getting old after all)



lastly the inner fender gets a painting of Jasco rust converter on it, it will sit over night then get scuffed tomorrow and get primed